Non-Spoiler Summary: This book revolves around high school senior, Violet Marker, a popular girl whose life has fallen a part after her sister and her were in a car accident and she survived but her sister, Eleanor, didn’t. This book ALSO revolves around outcast Theodore Finch, who meets Violet at the top of a bell tower. As these two begin to get to know each other through a US Geography assignment, they begin to help one another heal their wounds and attempt to move on from their equally troubled pasts.

Review: So I had the brilliant idea to read the last 150 pages while I was at work. Let me paint this picture for you: I’m there, at the front desk of a tennis club, reading my book like it was any other day, all of a sudden I begin to cry, almost uncontrollably, while members are having conversations around me, some of them asking me questions about how to schedule massages, all the while Theodore Finch has just been found dead and I cannot contain my emotions even slightly. I ended up having to go into the bathroom stall and cry in there. SO.. as someone who thought she could get through All the Bright Places without crying I have advice for everyone else: if you try to read the end of this book in public, prepare for odd stares as you begin to cry and snot all over the pages and possibly start yelling at the book as if it is a living thing that has decided to come into your life and sneeze all over it.

That being said, this book is book that I think depicts mental illness in a really authentic way. What I liked even more about it is the fact that it had two perspectives and therefore shown a light not only on Finch, who suffered with mental illness, but on the people like Violet that feel completely helpless when seeing their loved ones so unhappy. Violet’s reactions to Finch’s decisions and mental state is something that was 100% believable and in no way over-done or cheesy. Her thoughts after his suicide about not being enough for him or wishing she could’ve saved him or loved him more are thoughts that really hit home for me. As someone who has friends who have struggled with mental illness, I have always struggled to find someone or even a character who has similar experiences and Ultraviolet Remarkey-able is the first character I really thought understood the pain and helplessness that comes from seeing your friends in pain.

On a slightly happier note, I AM IN LOVE WITH THEODORE FINCH. Actually in love. I’m especially mesmerized by his outlook on life and his completely unique perception of the world. I loved his different Finch’s from 80’s Finch to Nerdy Finch, it made his character dynamic and also slightly more believable. Even if we teenagers in high school don’t normally go through such distinct identity phases, I know for a fact throughout this period of my life I have juggled many different variations of myself and it sometimes has been hard to decipher which one is the real me at times. In someways he almost reminded my of Augustus Waters from The Fault in Our Stars. They had similar mentalities as in Gus would always say, “I’m on a roller coaster that only goes up my friend,” and I think that Finch’s outward appearance to everyone including Violet most of the time gave off a similar vibe to that. I also was really intrigued by his obsession with water and the intertwining quotes from Virginia Woolf’s Waves. I haven’t had enough time to really understand the deeper meaning behind the water thing other than its cleansing and peaceful and a place where Finch feels safe but either way that and his love for that fake Jupiter-Pluto theory (sorry forgot the name!) was fascinating to me. In the end, Finch without a doubt makes my top 10 fictional boyfriend list.

This book was realistic, something that is sometimes hard to come across in YA all the time; it’s opening scene on the top of a bell tower made it clear to me right away this wouldn’t be a romanticized or cheesy novel for sure.

Overall, I really truly enjoyed this story, and never once got tired or bored with the characters and their journeys. One of the things that I loved most about Theodore and Violet’s relationship was that they complemented each other so well; helping each other heal in any way that they could was something so beautiful and remarkable. Despite the tragic ending, or even in light of it, Niven wonderfully articulates that we don’t have to forget those we’ve lost and instead we should carry their memories with us forever and allow them to shape us as we continue to grow.

Sincerely,

Zoe

P.S. I SO want to live in Indiana now, all their wanderings made it seem 10x cooler than any metropolitan or “hip” place I’ve wanted to live.

Why I read this book: I had read great things about it and then saw that it had won the pulitzer so I decided to give it a read

Summary:

The story takes place just as World War II begins to unfold and follows two young kids lives as they grow up on opposite sides of war torn Europe.

Opinion:

First off I just wanted to say how amazing this book is, no critical or analytical element to this, it was just AMAZING. I could only dream of writing a story so powerful, intricate and tender.

The characters throughout this entire story were so incredibly rich and full of such life and detail that it seemed as if they would jump off the page at any moment. I specifically loved the women character’s in this novel, Marie Laure (of course), Madame Manec, and Jutta. These girls were forces to be reckoned with from the start. Despite Marie Laure’s handicap she was someone I aspire to be due to her pure love for those around her and her desire to explore and learn all that she could. She seemed to bring out the best in everyone she met. For example with Etienne, an old man who had been cooped up in his home for over twenty years, Marie Laure was the reason he ventured out into the real world. Marie Laure was also someone who motivated and inspired Madame Manec to keep her underground revolution alive even when things got rough. Overall, Marie Laure is by far one of my favorite protagonists and her perspective is one of the most unique I’ve come across.

Werner, on the other hand, is a whole other story. To me he was such a delicate character, and was represented a more realistic experience during the war than Marie Laure’s story did. His fear and innocence were portrayed so wonderfully I thought and Doerr really managed to capture the lack of control Werner felt in the Hitler Youth school and during the war overall. I thought his death was very abrupt and sudden, not that that’s a bad thing but I didn’t expect it coming at all. It makes sense looking at the book as a whole, but when I was right in the heart of it it was a complete shock.

Something I think I loved even more than the characters (which is saying a lot) is the imagery and motifs in this book, specifically the radio and the snails. One of my favorite parts of the whole story is when we saw the connection between Marie Laure’s grandfather’s broadcasts and Werner and Jutta. To me at least it showed that a love for, well anything, can transcend battle fields and cultural boundaries. And that despite being on opposites sides of a world war, people can still find connections. The snails also were fascinating to me, I haven’t quite wrapped my mind around the meaning behind them but their presence throughout Marie Laure’s life and her connection to them was unexpectedly captivating. You never think of snails as something comforting or even intriguing, and yet Doerr shines a whole new light on them, making them seem almost relatable.

However, the one complaint (well I wouldn’t say complaint but rather comment) I had was that the title seemed a little off to me. I didn’t quite understand how it connected to the story as a whole. I understand that Marie Laure is blind so she physically can’t see light but I would think the title would have a little more depth then that…It didn’t seem to me that light was a huge motif throughout the novel so I was a little confused looking back on it after I had finished the story. Oh well

Overall I give this book an A++. Doerr’s knowledge on everything spanning from diamonds to snails in itself is astounding, not to mention how he succeeded in stringing it all together to create this breath taking story of two children’s struggle to find love and passion despite insurmountable outside forces.

Why I read this book: I’d heard really good things about this book and a nearby bookstore owner recommended it to me

Summary:

This book revolves around Ezra Faulkner who had been the most popular kid at school and star tennis player, until he got in a car accident that shattered his knee. This book follows his story of attempting to find out who he is now that he doesn’t have tennis and his old friends to lean on. It’s a beautiful coming of age story with authentic and unique moments that left me a little somber, but also very grateful.

Opinion:

I finished this book just last night so I’m still kind of in the processing phase post book reading if you know what I mean. Overall, I really enjoyed the book and its tone, the only complaint I would have would be that the stereotypes of high school seemed at some points to be a little over the top. In most books that revolve around high school there seems to be a difficulty in portraying “popular kids” and “nerds” authentically. In The Beginning of Everything the popular crowd seemed a little to cliche for my taste in the way that they would date someone based on how popular they were and were dumb, blonde, surfer-esque teens who only cared about going to parties and school dances, but that is probably my only negative comment on the book.

I definitely found this book to be underline worthy; there were many parts of this book where I took out a pen and circled or underlined a phrase or so that really stood out and resonated with me, and I love that when it happens. This was a book where I loved the writing style, the storyline, and the characters, but the ending made me sad which made me want to hate it and sometimes it’s really hard to distinguish you’re hate for the ending and just you’re sadness that things didn’t turn out the way you wanted to. In trying to extract my feelings from the equation I find the ending of the book to be really actually quite beautiful, even if it is sad. This book leaves you feeling happy for one aspect of his life, but then pissed off that another thing didn’t work out, argh so confusing!

In the book, once Ezra’s old life was in tatters, he struggled to find out who he was and began to realize the flaws in the life he once thought was everything. He begins to realize his whole life he’s been fitting himself into other people’s images of him and who they want him to be. He starts to see the formulaic path he was headed on and throughout the book breaks free, and becomes his own person and begins to find what truly interests him and the people who have the same ideals and look on life as he does. Now, I can’t talk about this book without mentioning the name Cassidy Thorpe, Cassidy is the girl Ezra falls in love with and helps him along his way to finding who he is and what he wants. Overall, I always had this weird feeling about Cassidy that something always seemed kind of off to me, but she definitely had her moments. I loved her perspective on life and the kind of refreshing care free and independent spirit that emanated from her character.

This story definitely had a moral along the lines of you are the one that opens the doors to different things in your life, not other people. I kind of just butchered it. But the underlying message behind the book was really quite amazing and inspiring even if I can’t properly put it into words and it does leave me feeling a little melancholy post final page. All in all I definitely would recommend this to anyone who deems a witty, adventurous and eye opening book about a boy with a can worth reading.

Why I read this book: I saw the movie trailer and it looked really interesting so I wanted to read the book before I saw the movie!

Opinion:

Overall I thought The Spectacular Now was no SPECTACULAR but it was very enjoyable and not as light of a read you would think it would be by looking at its size. The overall plot was intriguing and there weren’t many dull moments at all throughout the book. The one thing that really did get me though, was just the main character, I really could not sympathize with him for the majority of the novel. I mean I sympathized in the sense that he was trying to find his way and was kind of lost because he never felt like he had a fatherly figure or anyone who really loved him but throughout the book there wasn’t a moment where it seemed like he was actually trying to change his situation. Sutter (the protagonist) was submissive, self sabotaging, and played the victim card as an excuse and in the long run it only hurt him. Now, I did immediately go and watch the movie after I had finished the book and the movie gave the ending of the book a lot more closure then the book did. The books ending was depressing, but realistic, and actually kind of well…refreshing isn’t the right word… but, I guess realistic; (SPOILER ALERT) the books ending was realistic in the sense that it showed someone who came so close to breaking his bad habits, but in the end couldn’t make it. It showed Sutter relapsing into the exact same pattern at the beginning of the book with no intention of ever trying to come out of it. It was a sad yet heart warming book because in between the irritating stream of consciousness of a teenage boy and the tragic consequences of his motive to live in the Now, you found humor, relatable scenarios, and true love. I wouldn’t put it in my top favorite books but I thought it was a story that needed to be told, and Tom Tharp did an excellent job.

Why I read this book: I had heard a lot of people say really great things about it and when I saw it at the bookstore I decided to pick it up!

Opinion:

The Darkest Minds is one of the most well written books I have read in the past couple of months. The writing style was a mix of both narration and internal monologue which kept the perspective interesting throughout the novel. The novel gives off a slight X-men mutant vibe when you are thrown into the midst of a world battling with children who are well, mutants. It also parallels X-men in the fact that the mutants are outcasted and the government wishes to do away with all of them.

One thing I have to complain about is that the protagonist, Ruby, didn’t stand out from any other YA novel’s hero’s in the fact that she was an insecure, self sabotaging teenage girl who had no sense of self worth or confidence. That type of character is very archetypal in young adult fiction and I was disappointed to see so much of that throughout the book. One other minor thing that I found odd, now of course this is personal preference but, was their clothing choices. For some reason I couldn’t picture Liam wearing a baseball cap or Clancy with a popped collar (I’m sorry but if you describe any character as having a popped collar and want them to be found as attractive, you’re going down the wrong path, very fast.) also, I didn’t find it realistic that Ruby would switch immediately into a dress after 6 years of uniform and growing up wishing to be a boy, just because a 10 year old girl wants you to. I just didn’t find it hard to believe she would possible compromise her safety because of the restrictions a dress has on you to please a girl she’s just met. However, those are the two small things that I have to complain about because over all this was a stand out book for me. The supporting character of Liam, Zu, Chubs, and Clancy really brought a richer experience into the pages of the book for the reader. What was so interesting about this as well was the fact that Zu, was mute. The entire book she didn’t say one word and yet you had the most vivid picture of her personality, goals, and aspirations after only being introduced to her for a few chapters. I think that creating a character without vocalizing them in any way shape or form and still allowing the reader to make a personal connection with them is a very hard task to complete (well) and Bracken did an amazing job with that. Also, with the writing of the character Chubs, Bracken began with another archetype of the typical nerd, cranky outcast (the equivalent of a modern day Piggy from Lord of the Flies) but soon spun an interesting take on it. She so blatantly stated how archetypal Chub’s character was to the point where Chubs even said he was Piggy from Lord of the Flies that it made him no longer archetypal. After doing that it allowed him to spin off and grow into his own unique character that was no longer being compared to previous literary characters. Chubs became his own entity of wit, rational, sympathy, and sacrifice that by the end of the book I couldn’t think of another character like him.

Now in an unfortunate many YA books, they bring in a new story line or idea, and then leave it hanging to be forgotten about until the end of the book when the randomly bring it up again and you have to flip back to the first couple of chapters to remember what the heck they’re talking about. The Darkest Minds was a thankful exception. When Bracken brought into play a whole new possibility or impending decision that needed to be made, she continually kept referring back to it so the reader would have it fresh in their brains when she decided to pull it out of her box of goodies and use it. For example, the tracker device given to Ruby at the beginning of the book by the Children’s League was mentioned at various times throughout the book until she decided to use it, and when she finally made that decision you as the reader remember the exact point Ruby was given it and what it’s purpose was for.

In this novel I found it startling and actually relieving how much Bracken pushed the limits, of both her characters and her readers emotional well being. She created so many poignant and emotional scenarios within the novel that it was impossible to ignore the characters feelings and NOT empathize with them. Commonly in YA literature I find that scenes of emotional weight aren’t described or drawn in out in so much detail that you really take what’s going on seriously. Bracken’s illustrates scenes with long term emotional affects and conjures up things you would never think an author would have the guts to do. It’s not so much as the scenes that were written but the extent that they were taken that made the larger impact on me as the reader. For example: when Chubs yelled at Liam when he was upset, he found every single weak point in his armor and seemed to shoot a haze of bullets into each one with the awful things he said to him. Now in this particular scene Bracken pushed so hard into Liam you as the reader could barely believe the words he was saying, and that disbelief is what made it all the more believable. Bracken’s made some very hard decisions throughout the coarse (particularly the ending) of her novel that I don’t know if I would have the guts to do. Overall this novel went above and beyond my standards for a YA novel and I can’t wait to read more of the series.

More Later!

-Zoe

]]>https://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2014/01/07/the-darkest-minds/feed/0zoelostdownload (3)Charles Bukowskihttps://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/charles-bukowski/
https://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2013/11/30/charles-bukowski/#commentsSat, 30 Nov 2013 23:07:28 +0000http://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/?p=459]]>Lately I have been interested in reading more poetry then I have in the past and one author that I’ve really taken a liking to is Bukowski. Yes he is known for his more raunchy poems but I find when I’m reading his work that he’s not afraid of showing who he really is. His writing style is completely devoid of fear which enables him to look deeper into subjects we would normally never think twice about. He has a pattern of writing about drinking and horse races, but he also has a repeating quality of going into such depth about such insignificant things and by the end of it you realize they’re hardly insignificant at all. His poetry is really eye opening to the not so pretty side of reality but also can depict the real silver linings he can find.

Why I read this book: I was bored one day surfing IMDb and I saw the trailer for the MOVIE Vampire Academy and it looked pretty cool so I then put it on my bday wish list and POOF, it appeared.

Opinion:

Vampire Academy is a new take on the whole supernatural vampire world where it doesn’t mainly focus on the vampires, it also takes a lot of time to create what is called the vampires Guardians, which I thought was unique. You always think of Vampires as being these indestructible, immortal, creatures that you definitely don’t want to cross paths with. However, in THIS particular depiction of the vampire realm vampires are fragile and mortal and who depend on their half human half vampire guardians to protect them. The book follows a Guardian named Rose who in my opinion, is a very complex character. She is portrayed as being this party animal, reckless and impulsive teenager but she also has this caring and responsible side which is very much aware of her duty to her vampire. I also admired that Mead made her protagonist out to be a leader and not a victim, because we can all agree that victimized narraters are very annoying to listen to. Rose is an unreliable narrator in the sense that she is very judgmental and sarcastic. At some points throughout the book I found the witty attitude and sarcastic tone to be refreshing and funny, but at other points, annoying and bothersome. The literary work and detail behind this book is nothing special, it is definitely an easy read that I breezed through in a few days. But the plot line is very suspenseful and upbeat, and yes they did have to take an allotted amount of time out of the book to set up the alternate world and society but that’s whats expected in any beginning book in a series to some extent. I overall thought it was a fun book that would be great to bring on an airplane or for a long car ride because it doesn’t take a lot of brain power and intellect to follow along and understand the inner workings of all the characters. This book I would think would be for 13+ and more geared towards the female gender just because it is told from a very feminine girl perspective and has some mature content.

Why I read this book: I started it about 2 years ago and then put it down, but when I recently picked up my ereader to read The Fifth Wave I saw it and thought I’d give it another try

Opinion:

The story line throughout The Maze Runner is very fast paced for one thing so you hardly ever feel yourself zoning out because the protagonists description of the town lasted two pages, that was deffinatley not the case. At some points I almost wished there were better descriptions of people and places but it was fine all the same. James Dashner’s writing was nothing special, I think his story line is what really got me hooked. I found that the main character, Thomas, alone wasn’t very intriging but with the help of all the other supporting characters it really excentuated some of the importatn qualities in Thomas. I think that those supporting characters are what really made the story what it was and brought the entire book to life. Some of my personal favorite characters were Newt and Minho, two of the leaders in the Glade who were hilrious even under life threatening pressure. In this book I found a lot of comparisons between these characters and characters from other books. I frequently compared Thomas to Percy Jackson (thinking why is it so difficult for Thomas to kill a Griever when Percy kills some minotaur in the first 20 pages of the first book) I compared Minho to Kenji from the Shatter Me series because their personalities and humor were very similar and I also saw a little bit of Thresh from The Hunger Games inside Alby because of the things he would sacrifice and his morals, which I really enjoyed. I thought that the name of the organization that put all the boys in the Maze’s name was very in your face saying “we’re bad people” I mean come on, there name is WICKED. And when they began to try and persuade the reader that they wre doing this for the greater good it wasn’t believable in the slightest. Also, Thomas and the rest of the Gladers had their memories wiped before they came into the Glade so the entire book you were constantly in the dark about things going on and you could never get the full picture which at times was very aggravating and sometimes boring. But over all the ending had one of those moments where everything that’s been going on clicks into place and it makes you so excited that I couldn’t not like the book.

More Later!

-Zoe

P.S. The Maze Runner the movie is coming out in February featuring Dylan O’Brian as Thomas, eek! I can’t wait!

]]>https://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/the-maze-runner-series/feed/0zoelostMazerunnerPercy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters!https://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/percy-jackson-and-the-sea-of-monsters/
https://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/2013/08/06/percy-jackson-and-the-sea-of-monsters/#commentsTue, 06 Aug 2013 21:20:03 +0000http://abookwormsopinion.wordpress.com/?p=411]]>I read the second Percy Jackson book when I was in 5th grade so I hardly remember any of the details but what I do remember is awesome. Since I don’t remember the specifics of the book I’m really debating reading a synopsis or refreshing myself on it because of, well, the movie. I’m so excited to go see it tonight at the 10pm showing I can hardly help myself from jumping off the walls. My dilemma how ever consists of the question of do I want to know what happened in the book and then be able to critique the movie on their differences and similarities? or do I want to just see the movie and enjoy it for what it is and then just think that it’s close to what the book consisted of? I don’t know!

But I definitely give Sea of Monsters 5+ stars from what I do remember and the whole Percy Jackson series was just incredibly hilarious and fantastic, one of my top ten series hands down.

Why I read this book: I had heard a lot of people in the YouTube booktubing community talk about it and the premise seemed very intriguing.

Opinion:

Even the cover made you want to read this book. The hype, the plot line, everything called out to you as an omen for book lovers everywhere. Unfortunately, however, the actual guts of the book were sadly lacking that engrossing quality. The beginning seemed promising when you discover that, what? the books NOT set in America? That alone gave you the feeling that this book was going to stand out from others because in fact, no one spoke English (but yes all conversations were written for the reader to understand {in English}) But that’s where the excitement ended, at least for the next 150 pages. This book took forreeevvveeerr to set up. You just kept getting more details and back stories and different worlds and creatures thrown at you until it was almost like an overload and everything smushed together into one messy pile of fantasy. So to my dismay, this book had hardly any real time action.

*But I do give props on the name choices (ex. Akiva, Karou, Madrigal, Thiago, Zuzanna, the list goes on)

The love interest of course was intriguing solely because of the detail that it was forbidden. I think sometimes authors think that by throwing forbidden love into their plot line will automatically catch their readers and they won’t have to work any harder then just that. So for any future authors I would like to right some misconceptions in stating that that is not the case. in the slightest. I felt like I could see what was coming for the romantic couple miles away, which makes you feel both awesome that you figured it out before the characters actually did, and disappointed that it was that easy. However I do have to say that there were indeed some interesting conflicts within the story and after the stage was set the plot line flowed nicely. BUT THEN Karou (the main character) had to find out her past, and i thought the flashback into where she came from an the purpose of her placement here on earth would be a short, I don’t know, chapter? But this flashback took a good 96 pages. 96 pages. of flashback. That right there tipped the scale of being an “okay-sure” book to a “come on really?” one.

But then everything clicked.

And I realized, this is basically a complete riff off of Romeo and Juliet. I mean just think about it:

*note if you haven’t read this and still wish to do not read the italicized below”

Two households, both alike in dignity, (the Chimera and the angels)

In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, (more like Prague, which is only a 7 hour and 22 minute drive to Verona, google it if you don’t believe me.)

From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, (the war started thousands of years ago, is still ongoing in their world and its about to break into a whole new war now that there’s no resurrection!)

Do with their death bury their parents’ strife. (It buries Thiago’s worries of an overthrow, and Brimstone’s feeling that he couldn’t save her)

The fearful passage of their death-mark’d love, (Akiva and Karou’s love was destined for failure and yet the still loved each other)

And the continuance of their parents’ rage, (The war continues to rage between the chimera and angels)

Which, but their children’s end, nought could remove, (The countless deaths of both parties people still isn’t enough of an incentive to end the war)

Okay that took longer then I thought to think out but nonetheless this is spot on The Daughter of Smoke and Bone. I would be reading and then find myself thinking, this exact scene took place in Act 3 of R&J. I mean my god they fell in love at first sight at a masquerade ball I mean what more could you ask?? It felt almost like the author took romeo and Juliet and disguised it under the mask of people who were half antelope and different languages and called it a day.

The book did leave you hanging with many emotions however so kudos to you Laini for making me really pissed at the two protagonists yet pity them at the same time. That might be the sole reason why I read the second one in this series, that and the love interest is very…interesting.

So overall it was a good book but some parts irritated me and were slow moving but I would recommend it to people looking for a new twist off an old story or something you could easily read pool side.